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The family takes care of the new backpack — standards take care of food safety

The start of a new school year is an important moment for the whole family, especially when a little one is heading to kindergarten for the first time or becoming a first grader. Everything needs to be ready for September 1st: new clothes and shoes, a backpack, school supplies, water bottles, notebooks featuring favorite characters. In addition, parents buy snack containers so their child can make it through a demanding day.

For children, the most important things are traditionally socializing, spending time together during breaks, and getting to know new friends. For parents, what matters most is their child's environment and quality, safely prepared meals — especially for those attending kindergarten, as well as schoolchildren who go to extended after-school care, where a meal is also provided.

While food can be prepared on-site at the institution, it is increasingly being supplied through catering services.

What's on the menu matters, but the safety of the entire food supply chain matters even more

From production and procurement, through preparation, storage and transport, to serving the food to children — every stage is extremely important. Standards for food safety management systems ensure the safety of all these steps.

One system for food safety along the entire supply chain

SRPS EN ISO 22000:2018 – Food safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain is the fundamental standard in this field. It sets out the requirements for establishing a food safety management system (FSMS), enabling organizations to systematically organize, implement, and improve their operations so that the final products and services are completely safe for use.

The standard is intended for organizations directly or indirectly involved in the food supply chain — from manufacturers and processors, through retail, transport, and storage, to organizations providing food-related services and catering services.

This means the principles of this standard can be linked to every link in the chain that brings food to a child's plate.

Common foundations for food safety

A food safety management system also relies on prerequisite programs (PRPs) — measures and conditions that create the basis for producing and preparing safe food.

The newer SRPS ISO 22002 series of standards specifically regulates these programs for different segments of the aforementioned chain.

SRPS ISO 22002-100:2025 – Prerequisite programs for food safety – Part 100: Requirements for the food, feed, and packaging supply chain sets out common requirements for establishing, implementing, and maintaining PRPs across the entire supply chain.

This standard provides a common basis for controlling food safety hazards and can be applied by any organization involved in the food supply chain, regardless of size or complexity.

Since food goes through numerous stages before reaching the end user, PRP requirements are adapted to each specific activity.

For production, the relevant standard is SRPS ISO 22002-1:2025 – Prerequisite programs for food safety – Part 1: Food manufacturing. Together with SRPS ISO 22002-100:2025, it sets out the requirements for establishing, implementing, and maintaining PRPs for controlling food safety hazards in production.

In other words, regardless of whether food for children is prepared in the institution's own kitchen or comes from an organization engaged in food production and preparation, there are standards that help ensure food safety is viewed systematically — not just at the moment the meal is placed in front of the child.

Standards enable the safety of meals delivered through catering

This is particularly important for kindergartens and schools where meals are provided through catering.

SRPS ISO 22002-2:2025 – Prerequisite programs for food safety – Part 2: Catering, together with ISO 22002-100, sets out the requirements for establishing, implementing, and maintaining PRPs for controlling food safety hazards in catering services.

The standard covers, among other things, institutional and school canteens, as well as activities such as preparing, mixing, reheating, and portioning displayed food intended for immediate consumption or for takeaway.

This is especially significant in the context of children's nutrition. When a meal for kindergarten or school comes from a catering system, food safety involves much more than whether the dish is tasty and nicely served. What matters are the conditions in which the food is prepared, how it is handled, hazard control, and the conditions in which the meal is stored and served.

Food safety therefore also includes the space in which children eat. A properly arranged space, equipment, and serving conditions are an integral part of the measures used to eliminate potential risks.

Standards within the food safety management system

All of the above-mentioned standards should not be viewed in isolation. They build on and complement one another — SRPS ISO 22000:2018 sets the framework for the food safety management system, while the SRPS ISO 22002 series regulates the prerequisite programs for different parts of the chain in more detail.

From food production, through supply and handling, to catering and serving — the goal is the same: to control hazards and help ensure that the food reaching the child is safe to consume.

This is especially important for parents. While choosing a backpack, shoes, and school supplies is a matter of personal taste, a safe, high-quality, and properly prepared meal is something they cannot influence on their own. This is precisely where standards play an irreplaceable role.